That's it, the very first pioupiou is online! A week that he is wisely perched. A windsurf mast, three pieces of string, and that's how we redecorate the roof of the mobile home. First observation, but not least: it works! Since I installed it, the beacon has not crashed yet. That's a pretty good sign. It captures far! The Sigfox network lives up to my expectations. The most popular relay antenna…
As I explained some time ago, this beacon must have a good antenna. Having finally finished the electronic board, I was able to take care of it, just to compare theory with reality. The theory says that the Sigfox network operates on 868MHz. That 868MHz is a wavelength of 34,6 cm. And so we can make an antenna of 17,3 cm for a half-wave, or 8,6 cm for a quarter-wave. But problem:...
As promised, I received the first 3 prototype cards on Wednesday. All beautiful, all shiny, all golden (it's real gold plated, like in mom's earrings!). But they are also all naked. It was therefore necessary to help these young ladies to get dressed, so that they would be ready for the big night. Head to the lab. I put myself in the shoes of a small Chinese child for a day. Overflowing with tenderness, the owner of the place offers me a…
This beacon project has been in my head for almost a year. For months, I hesitated to start. Carrying out a project of this type is quite an adventure, and I wasn't sure I was up to it. If I've been tinkering with electronics in the garage for years, this is the first time I've tackled the manufacture of a "real" product. This time it's no longer a DIY and the…
This is obviously the question we all ask ourselves. How much will the machine cost? I announced that my dream was a beacon for less than €100. I actually think it is possible. In reality, it's all about quantity. I was able to control the costs for the development of the first prototypes. The initial budget is respected. But between the prototype that works and the industrial product, compliant, guaranteed, etc., there is a big step. I still have a lot of steps to…
For all babies the same problem arises: You have to find THE first name. The beautiful baby here Fortunately, you have helped me a lot. I received close to 400 proposals! » see the complete list Words that came up often: drone, helicopter/gyro/copter, lark, dragonfly, R2D2… Alouette, nice Alouette On reflection, I liked the name “Alouette”: bird, which flies in the wind – Like…
News from the beacons, live from the hemicycle of the Ile de France Regional Council. Today is the State Of The Map organized by our dear cricri. (Another paragliding star!) There are only 24 hours a day, so you have to optimize 😉 One eye on the gentleman who speaks, one eye on the computer. The right track So in yesterday's TGV, I finally finished drawing the electronic board. It looks something like this: Casually, it was...